Investors driving families out of homes in South and West Auckland

Investors cashing in on skyrocketing Auckland house prices are driving families out of homes in South and West Auckland and causing homeownership rates in some of our poorest suburbs to plummet, Labour’s Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford says.

“New analysis shows the suburbs with the highest levels of speculator activity have had the biggest falls in homeownership.

“It’s clear what is happening here. National’s housing crisis is increasing the gap between those who are struggling and those in the leafy suburbs. The data shows homeownership rates in Herne Bay and St Helier’s are now increasing while in Papatoetoe and Manurewa they are falling.

“According to Census data, homeownership across New Zealand has fallen by 2 per cent. However, in Otara – where 80 per cent of properties were sold to investors last year – homeownership fell by 8 per cent, four times the national average. In Herne Bay it actually rose by 3 per cent.

“Speculators are hoovering up the very suburbs that have traditionally been the places where Kiwi families have got their start in life thanks to affordable housing.

“This depressing tale of two cities is John Key’s legacy and the product of having ignored the housing crisis for eight years and allowing speculators to run riot.

“National has an opportunity to do something about this tonight when my Member’s Bill to ban non-resident foreign buyers from buying existing homes will be debated in Parliament.

“In tomorrow’s Budget the Government has a chance to stop the tinkering once and for all, and commit to a massive state-backed building programme of affordable housing,” Phil Twyford says.